The present invention generally relates to computerized financial systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to applying/linking transactions in a financial management system.
Computerized financial systems and programs (i.e., software applications) are configured for use by both accountants and non-accountants. These systems allow users to set up various types of accounts such as general ledger, inventory, order entry, accounts receivable, accounts payable, bank manager, and payroll accounts. Each account, or account module, of the accounting system are typically fully integrated and share common data. As a result, a transaction can be entered, for example, as an invoice, and the accounting system automatically performs the necessary credits and debits on the affected accounts including posting the transaction to the general ledger without requiring the user to reenter any data. Thus, such computerized accounting systems are ideal tools for the non-accountant user. Additionally, they save time, reduce the likelihood of errors, and eliminate the need to reenter data for posting to the general ledger.
In addition to providing the above functions, many computerized financial systems include transaction linking or apply systems that allow a user to link certain transactions or documents together. For example, an apply system can be used to link or apply a cash-in receipt to a payment within a particular account module (accounts receivable, accounts payable, etc.). In general, the purpose of the transaction linking process (or apply process) is to reduce the outstanding balances of these transactions/documents so that, eventually, the outstanding balance of the transactions is zero.
In current financial systems, transaction linking is usually cumbersome with limited abilities such as the ability to apply a cash-in receipt to a payment (within a particular account module) as noted in the above example. Further, in current systems, each account module (accounts receivable, accounts payable, etc.) usually has a separate apply system with its own screens, interface, etc. Having a different apply system for each account module, within a single financial system, results in multiple non-standardized apply systems that may differ from each other in appearance and functionality. Such systems are complex, costly and difficult to maintain.